67. FMI Emerge: Scale Your Brand Smarter With Julie Pryor, Food Marketing Institute (FMI)

67. If you're stuck trying to figure out brokers, distributors, co-packers, or how to pitch a retail buyer, you don't need more hustle—you need better guidance. Most emerging brands waste time and money learning lessons the hard way. In this episode, I sit down with Julie from FMI to unpack FMI Emerge, a new platform built specifically to help emerging food and beverage brands scale sustainably. Backed by the Food Marketing Institute's deep roots in category management and retail strategy, this subscription-based community provides MBA-style education, one-on-one mentor access, investor connections, and actionable insights designed to help brands increase velocity, secure more shelf space, and build stronger trading partner relationships. We discuss why distribution without preparation is dangerous, why retailers need stronger emerging brand partners, and how mentorship can dramatically accelerate growth. If you're doing over $500K in sales and ready to level up, this conversation matters. Learn how to build the unified selling story retailers want. Then explore additional episodes to go deeper into category leadership and retail execution. Get instant access on the show webpage: RetailSolved.com/session67